by Parker, Lexy
“I do. You get up there with me or I won’t get up there at all,” I said firmly.
“You’re such a pain in the ass,” she grumbled.
I grabbed her, giving her a quick hug before walking to my car.
Chapter 9
Clay
I walked into the small restaurant where I was meeting Philip for lunch. It was a rarity. We usually didn’t have the time in the middle of the day to sit down and eat a meal together. Fortunately, I had got done with the morning deliveries early and Philip had some time before his next round of deliveries.
When I sat down, Philip was already there ordering from the waitress. I quickly gave her my order before sucking down the ice water already on the table. It was a warm day and I was thirsty as hell. It had been a long time since I’d been out in the truck, getting in and out. I’d been spending most of my days at the shop in the comfy AC.
“How’s it going with the brother? Didn’t you say he was in town?” Philip asked.
I grimaced. “Yes, he’s here. I honestly figured he would be gone by now. Lucky me he seems to be here for a nice, long visit.”
“That bad?”
I rolled my eyes. “Emmitt is bad, and I’m used to that, but what I can’t stand is the way my mother treats him like he is the Messiah. He was born to save us all if you listen to her. I swear if I have to listen to her go on about how wonderful he is throughout another dinner, I’m going to stab a fork in my eye.”
“She’s proud of him,” he reasoned.
I shook my head. “It’s like next level hero worship. I really expect her to tell me hung the moon and walks on water. Soon, she’ll tell me he found the cure to cancer and is saving the world.”
Philip smiled. “Sounds like a little sibling rivalry to me.”
I shook my head. “No. It is so much worse than that. My parents see Emmitt and they quite literally are blinded by his glory. They can see nothing else when he is in the room.”
“I bet she is like that with you, but you’re around it so often, you don’t notice. She’s proud of her boys. That’s nice,” he offered.
“If you happen to meet them with Emmitt around, you’ll see what I mean. She will gush about how great he is, and he will ignore her and treat her like shit. That’s the worst part about all of it. She adores him and he pretends she doesn’t exist. It makes me sick. He is disrespectful and instead of being decent to them, he treats them horribly. They don’t even seem to notice it,” I complained.
“I’m sorry. I’m sure your mother is just as proud of you, but maybe doesn’t show it the same way.”
“At all. Ever,” I retorted.
“Hang out with us this weekend. We’ll protect you from the family,” he said with a wink.
“Ha. Ha. Don’t be surprised when you find me hiding in the spare room,” I shot back.
Our burgers were delivered and because we had limited time, we focused on scarfing down our lunch. I was looking forward to the weekend, even if it meant I had to hang out with Emmitt for a short time. I was hoping to take advantage of the long weekend to get some fishing in. For me, a fishing pole and a quiet spot was all it took to make the world right again.
We both went back to the shop and had barely been back for five minutes when the front door opened. I looked up to see my brother breeze through it. I groaned, getting up from my desk and walking into the front area.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, not trying to be friendly.
Emmitt looked around, his lip curled. “I thought I’d come by and see this business of yours.”
I held my arms out. “This is it.”
“I see that. It’s so ugly and bare,” he remarked.
Philip came in from the back right at that time. He looked from me to my brother. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“This is Emmitt. My brother,” I said dryly.
Philip’s eyes lit up with understanding. He stepped toward Emmitt and extended his hand. “Good to meet you. I’m Philip. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Emmitt completely ignored Philip’s outstretched hand and finally, Philip just dropped it.
“I doubt any of it was good,” Emmitt commented before moving around the small space. “Don’t you think you should dress this place up a bit? What customer is going to walk in here and want to give you their business? You’ve made no effort.”
I cleared my throat. “I don’t usually get customers in the shop. We pick up and deliver or get deliveries dropped off from one of the bigger shipping companies. Customers don’t come in here. This isn’t a post office.”
“You’re not even trying. You could paint the walls, add a couple of plants and some seating. You have to at least pretend you want to make money,” Emmitt said, shaking his head with disgust.
“We’re doing fine and all that would be a waste of money,” I retorted.
Emmitt stepped into my office. “This is a waste of money. Are you using a computer from the stone age? Tablets are the way to go now. You’re seriously limiting yourself.”
I looked at Philip, who gave me a look of pity. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to get out of here and get the rest of these deliveries out. Are you going to be okay here?” he asked.
I smirked. “Yes. He’ll insult me for another ten minutes and grow bored and leave. I’m used to it.”
“I’m really sorry I doubted you about what you said. You were right,” he said, shooting a look at Emmitt, who had taken the seat behind my desk and was rifling through my paperwork.
“Yes, I was. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go extract his big ass nose from my business,” I grumbled.
“Good luck,” he muttered under his breath. “Nice to meet you,” he called out to Emmitt as he walked out the back door.
I went into my office and leaned against the doorframe, watching him pick up one invoice, scan it and toss it down. “Is there something you want or are you here just to snoop?” I snapped.
“I’m just doing a little light reading. Why don’t you have a secretary? You should have someone sitting right up front, ready to greet customers. It would add a huge boost of professionalism to the place,” he said, reading another invoice.
I sighed. “Because I don’t need a secretary. The business isn’t busy enough to warrant paying someone to sit there and look pretty all day.”
“That person would be in charge of all this. What happens if you lose one of these invoices? You just don’t get paid? This is sloppy work, Clay. How are you still in business?” he said with disgust.
“It gets done. This week has been a little hectic. I’ve had to take on some deliveries because my other driver quit. I’m here to take care of all that now,” I told him.
“Anyone that walks through that door is going to see your messy desk. It looks sloppy. No one wants to hire a delivery company that can’t keep their shit tidy. They’re not going to trust you not to lose their stuff,” he lectured.
I sighed, already sick of all his good advice. “Really, why are you here?” I asked.
“I wanted to see how my little brother is doing. I want you to be successful and I am used to working with Fortune 500 companies. I know a little about what it takes to make a company successful,” he said easily.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not the CEO of those companies. You’re not the guy sitting in the chair and making the business decisions.”
“No, but I’m the guy they ask for advice.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “This isn’t a Fortune 500 company, and it never will be. That’s not the goal here. I’m not interested in all that.”
“You’re not interested in being a success? In being wealthy? In taking your company to the next level, or in your case, any level up would be a huge improvement.”
“I don’t see why you care. You’re here for a week and then you’ll go back to your fancy world. You don’t need to worry about what I’m doing here. If and when I need your help, I’ll be sure to call. Now, if you’d get out of my chair, I have work to do,” I said, qu
ickly growing tired of his insults.
Emmitt looked at me, mild surprise on his face. “You could have something great here. You just need some fine-tuning and a good business eye to fix this mess you call a business.”
“Mom’s probably wondering where you are. You should probably go find her,” I said, ignoring another insult.
Emmitt smiled and got up from the desk. “You’ve always settled for mediocre. Doesn’t that get old? Don’t you want to know what it feels like to be me? To be successful and wealthy?” he asked in a low voice as he stepped toward me.
I shook my head. “Nope. Your life doesn’t interest me, but clearly, mine interests you.”
Emmitt smirked. “Not likely. It’s like taking a walk on the other side and reminding myself why I will never let myself become like you.”
“Tell Mom I said hi,” I said, stepping around him to take my seat at the desk. “I’m sure you can find your way out. There’s nothing blocking the door.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “One of these days you’re going to be begging me to save your sorry ass.”
“I doubt that,” I muttered, not bothering to look up.
“Mom does. Mom wants me to help you clean your shit up. I’ll let her know I took a look and you’re so far in the pits of hell, there’s no cleaning this up. I’d suggest burning it down,” he muttered and walked out.
I heard the front door open and slam shut and breathed a sigh of relief. I looked around at my desk with the scattered paperwork. He had come in at a time when I had not been at my best. He had no idea what it took to actually run a business. He sat in an office trading stocks and picking apart companies that weren’t making money hand over fist. Emmitt didn’t know the first thing about dealing with my clientele.
I would love to get him behind the wheel of one of the delivery trucks. Let him get in and out of a truck twenty times a day, picking up and dropping off packages. He’d never be able to handle it. Emmitt was never going to understand what I did or why I did it. He would never understand why I didn’t want millions in the bank or to be strapped to a desk day in and day out. A small business meant I had plenty of free time to do the things that made me happy.
Maybe that was his problem. He needed a hobby. He needed something he actually enjoyed. Maybe then he wouldn’t be such a dick. I smirked, shaking my head. He’d still be a dick. He was born in a shitty mood and had never been able to snap himself out of it. It was no wonder he was still single even with all that he had to offer. No woman in her right mind would hitch herself to his wagon, not even for all the money he brought to the table. Money couldn’t buy happiness and he was a prime example of that.
Chapter 10
Dani
Kasey was holding the small terrier while I carefully unwrapped the dog’s injured leg. Dr. Mike was with another patient and had left the dressing change to the two of us. It was my third shift with Kasey, and I was really beginning to like her. She was so kind, and the animals seemed to sense she was good. They all settled right down when she talked to them.
“He got run over?” Kasey asked.
“Yep, with a four-wheeler. It could have been so much worse,” I replied.
Kasey made sympathetic noises as she gently rubbed the dog’s ears. “He’s a good boy,” she said in a baby voice.
With the bandage off, I realized I didn’t have enough supplies to rewrap it. “Can you open that cabinet and grab some more wrap please?”
Kasey quickly jumped to do as I asked. “What color should we give him today?” she said with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think he cares.”
“We’ll go with red. You’re a little guy and we need to make sure everyone sees you,” she said to the dog, once again reverting to baby talk.
The dog seemed to love it. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and his tail was wagging wildly. Between the two of us, we managed to get him all wrapped up and back into the hands of his owner. We both went back into the room to start cleaning up.
“How do you like it so far?” I asked her.
She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “I love it.”
“That’s good. We’ve had a couple of tough cases this week and you’ve really done a good job,” I complimented her.
“Thank you. I know I probably don’t look like a serious person, but I am. I am determined and I’m not going to give up,” she vowed.
“Good for you. How are you liking the town?” I asked.
She took a deep breath. “It’s really nice, but between class and working here, I haven’t had a lot of time to get out and meet people. It’s just been me and my fiancé. I don’t want him to think I’m too clingy.”
“There’s a big thing at the city park tomorrow. The two of you should go. You’ll get out and meet some people and have fun. Those things are always a lot of fun,” I told her.
She seemed a little reluctant. “I should probably study. We’ve got finals coming up.”
“Kasey, I’ve seen you work in here. You know your meds, you can diagnose issues even before Dr. Mike can. I think you’re more than ready for any test. You have to have some fun or you’re going to burn out,” I told her.
She shrugged. “That’s what my fiancé says too.”
“You’ve got your whole life to be serious. This is the time to have fun and enjoy nice days in the park,” I lectured, knowing I should take my own advice.
“What do you do for fun? You look like you’re in really good shape. Do you run?” she asked.
I giggled. “Thank you. No, I don’t run. I take a spin class in the mornings and sometimes I teach a few classes at the gym.”
“You do! Oh my God, that’s crazy! I used to do a spin class back home, but then we moved here, and I just feel like I haven’t had the time to look into joining a gym or anything like that,” she exclaimed.
“You should come with me. I’ll get you a guest pass and you can check things out. It’s not one of those really big gyms and there aren’t a bunch of guys grunting and sweating all over the place. It’s laid back and fun. I’ve been a member for years. I’ve tried to get my friend Jamie to go, but she loathes exercise and sweating in general,” I said with a laugh, remembering some of the rather unladylike things Jamie said the last time I dragged her to a spin class.
“I would like that, thank you.”
“Of course. I’d love to have someone to work out with. No pressure,” I said with a wink.
We finished our work in sterilizing the room and getting it ready for the next patient. Dr. Mike was just finishing up with his patient as well. We had a lull between appointments, which meant we had a few minutes to grab a bite to eat. We had agreed to skip a lunch hour in order to see as many animals as we could before the long holiday weekend.
“I heard a little rumor earlier today,” Dr. Mike started.
I looked at him, pointing to my chest. “About me?”
He nodded his head, a mischievous look in his eyes. “Oh, yes.”
“I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me,” I said, going on the defensive.
The vet smiled. “Oh, the way I hear it, you’ll be doing it tomorrow.”
I groaned, knowing exactly what it is he was talking about. “Maybe.”
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Kasey asked.
“She’s going to be speaking at the big celebration in the park.”
“You are? What about?” Kasey asked excitedly.
Dr. Mike and I exchanged a look. “It’s for the Memorial Day celebration,” I answered. “The city is dedicating a park bench to my late husband and they have asked me to give a short speech.”
Kasey looked at me, her eyes welling with tears as she heard my words. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine,” I assured her.
“You are going to do great. I know you’re not big on public speaking, but I think this is a special event and I’m glad they asked you to do it. It means a lot to everyone here,” the vet said with a gentle tone.
>
“Thank you. I’m nervous as can be about it,” I mumbled.
“Don’t be nervous. Just be yourself. Be natural. I’ll be there with my wife. She’s the one who heard about it and told me. You would think you were her daughter with as proud as she was acting,” he said with a laugh.
“I appreciate that. Tell her not to get too proud yet. I might get up there and make a complete fool out of myself,” I told him.
“You’re going to do fine. We’ll all be there to support you. We all know you. It will be like you’re talking to a group of friends,” he assured me.
“Thank you.”
“Now, I’m going to take this little break to go call my bride. I know I’m supposed to pick something up at the store on the way home and I’ve already forgotten,” he said, walking away and leaving Kasey and me alone.
“How long ago did you lose your husband?” she asked gently.
I let out a sigh, knowing she was curious. Most people were. There weren’t a lot of thirty-year-old widows and people were always drawn to the story. “It will be two years in November. He was in the marines. Ironically, it happened the day before he was to come home on leave. He was going to be exiting the military shortly after. Best laid plans,” I said.
“I’m so sorry. My brother is in the army. Every day I worry I’m going to get that phone call,” she whispered.
“Don’t spend your days worrying. You can’t let them think you’re worrying about them. You have to be strong and keep going, keep things normal for when they do come back,” I told her.
“I do try, but sometimes I hear things on the news and I just panic a little.”
“Don’t panic. Never listen to the news,” I warned her.
She laughed. “That’s what a lot of the other families tell us too.”
“Good. Take that advice. You don’t need that kind of stress or the sensationalism,” I replied.
“Have you practiced your speech?” she asked.
I laughed. “I haven’t even written it!”
